TW: None?

~Chapter One: Knife

When you first met him you didn't notice much about Parvis. In fact, you tried not to pay much attention to him and weren't too interested in knowing more than needed. You tried to keep this a cold, professional apprenticeship and simply get this favor to Xephos over with.

You didn't notice how his smile was quick, sharper than the knife he held in his hands in that underground altar. You didn't notice that smile at all until it was there and in your face before he swiped at you with a giddy giggle. His grin cut fast onto his face, all teeth and cheshire like. His teeth seemed too straight and a little too sharp to even be human. Must have been a trick of the light.

He was all sharp angles. It was hard to believe you never noticed that from the beginning especially since you had to share a bed with him for a time back in Chaosville. You noticed that during his apprenticeship with you, he purposefully made himself seem smaller. He towered over you when he wanted to, long arms and legs seemingly going on forever, and you weren't at all short. In fact, you assumed to be just a few inches above average human male height. He was too tall, too sharp, and such a thing on anyone else would've made you uncomfortable. But you were a business man and you've seen Endermen zip around with their long limbs and too many angles.

(Seeing Parvis do the exact same thing was unnerving later, especially with the coppery, bitter scent of blood that was left when he leapt up in the air.)

His eyes were black. At first you dismissed it as a trick of the light, that perhaps his eyes were just a darker brown. But no, in the confines of the well lit altar room, the glowstone glittering. He met your eyes with that same, knife sharp grin and all that reflected back from his eyes was the glowstone. They were pitch black, gaping holes in the whites of his eyes and it was strange; fascinating even. Seeing yourself reflected on those eyes sent a shiver down your spine and you looked away immediately.

You do remember however, back in Chaosville, that he would often complain about the sun. He had a tendency to turn pink in the sun after a long day at work.

(And that was the strange thing about humans, the thing they live off of could damage them and make them change colors. You had laughed at Parvis those times he would turn mooshroom red)

Now, he was still pink but not from the sun. He was flushed from his blood network and with the giddy joy of power. There were times however, when a ritual doesn't go quite right or a mechanism drains on him, he would turn sickeningly ghast pale. His skin paper white and paper thin, seemingly deflating from the lack of blood. You had laughed mockingly at first until it worried you. It was an unpleasant feeling.

His hands were just like the rest of him, too long and too sharp. You never noticed and probably wouldn't have noticed at all if it wasn't for that time you had challenged just how much power his blood network was producing, mocking him a little. He had frowned a bit then, the frown cutting into his face too suddenly, and grabbed you face in one hand while dipping the other into the well of the blood altar. He forced your jaw open and slipped blood soaked fingers into your mouth, grinning; "Can't you feel all that power Will? It's all mine but I can share."

You shoved him away, the bitter taste of blood lingering on your tongue and staining your teeth. You had glared at him, sputtering and half shouting at him. He lifted his hands up in the air, stained with blood, and shrugged. As if saying, "Oh what? Me?". You had noticed his hands then. Bony and probing, dancing on your tongue not unlike a spider. You had continued glaring and he smiled again, slow and sweet like molasses. You preferred that sharp grin.

You never noticed how terribly human he was. That human greed for power, that laugh that was bright and bounce off of castle walls, how despite his pitch black eyes, they still somehow glittered and were vivid with emotion. He was so expressive and volatile you had found it annoying, in fact it still was. Yet you can appreciate it now, especially now that you're mainly on the sidelines making sure Parvis wouldn't die stupidly from his own magic.

You had asked him once why he was doing all this. One time he had answered: "Well, solutions is your business and chaos is mine". You asked him again, when he had his blood battery of witches and had discovered how to travel far and fast. He had answered then, with that grin: "Well I want all the power. I want everything, Will."
You wished he would stop calling you "Will" like you two were friends. This was still a form of apprenticeship, where you made sure Parvis isn't in harm's way.

(You think about the trip to The Nether. How Parvis leaped and jumped, slaying all in his wake while you tried to keep up and gather spoils. How he happily swam in lava while in pursuit of the Nether dragon. How you had almost died several times and Parvis had said "Don't worry Strife, just stay back and I will take care of it." And you can't help but think if Parvis even needs protecting anymore and why you still show up when he asks.)

You tried to keep a distance from him, both emotionally and physically. He was a touchy guy, always hovering and poking his fingers into things he shouldn't be sticking them in, that was something that was hard to ignore. He took particular glee in sneaking up on you and prodding at you with bony fingers. It grew to be harder and harder to keep that distance you had so carefully put down between yourself and Parvis, especially with the blurring line that was his apprenticeship to you.

You had touched down one day, in that new mechatronic suit of yours shining in the early afternoon sun. He didn't hesitate to immediately poke and prod at the mechanical plating of the armor, trailing fingers over grooves, slipping fingers into the spaces between the armor and your body. You immediately smacked those hands away yet it seemed he kept on with his pursuit to examine, stepping into your space with that grin in your face. You glared and he simply said, "Why Will, you're looking pretty cool right now. You made yourself something great." And there he goes, smothering you in compliments. You knew where this was going to go and prepared yourself to have a chore shoved onto you that he was too lazy to do. Yet nothing came.

There was a silence that hung in the air between you and him. He was still grinning yet it was softer, a little to sweet. The sun shone in the dark abyss of his eyes and there was something there that made you uncomfortable. You didn't like it, it was unpleasant and frankly unnecessary if you were honest. You frowned after a while and broke the silence.

"So, how have you been Parv?"

The grin turned sharp again. "Well, I'm glad you asked Will! I have some business to attend to somewhere and with your new, shiny armor I think we could..." He trailed off and continued as such, prattling on a list of demands that you knew would mostly be you handling the dirty work while Parvis sat back and watched, complimenting you and saying those too sweet words.

You knew how it worked, you were no fool to what this thing had become. You knew, yet you still came around to Parv's castle with his too sharp smile, his too dark eyes, his too sweet words, his too many angles. You couldn't help notice things nowadays, coming in every once in a while when he called had made it so you couldn't ignore him anymore, couldn't keep him away.

You finished your work and he came up to you and what you had built, marveling and complimenting. You didn't say anything except for a few grumbles to acknowledge what he was saying. During your grumblings however, he had flipped up your visor without you noticing. You were about to shout at him about personal space before chapped lips pressed themselves to your cheek.

The action had derailed your train of thought straight off a cliff. And he had laughed then, bright and loud, before flipping your visor back down.

"I think that's all for now Will, thank you very much for your help!" And off he went, springing into the air leaving only the coppery smell of blood in his wake.

Instead of turning around back to Strife Solutions tower, you followed him. Keeping close, keeping an eye on him. His smile was there again, soft and sweet. Eyes bright despite the color. Too sharp, too soft, and sweet.

And so that was Parvis.

~Chapter Two: Monolith

There was something hilariously simple about good old William Strife, you thought. This man with his lists and science, not at all fumbling through life (what a laugh). You had stumbled onto his temple-turned-base after struggling with the vague coordinates that Xephos had left for you. He could have simply teleported you over to Strife's location but no, he left you wandering around for those coordinates with nothing but your infinite wit.

But you digress.

In all honesty, you had expected some stuffy silk shirt like that Xephos, and in that temple you had found just that. Bent over a crafting bench, tinkering and piecing together something or another, you weren't paying attention to that at all. You drank in the sight of him for a second, this William Strife.

The first thing that had hit you other than the fancy clothes was the broadness of his shoulders and back. There are broader men, of course, yet this was something you had not expected in some uptight CEO. Certainly, he was broader than you but he was a fair bit shorter. Though it isn't hard to be shorter than you. You grinned and greeted him. It was a delight to see him jump and flail until he decided to attack you that is. Those arms and shoulders weren't for show. You had witnessed Strife easily lift and move heavy machinery, chop down whole trees, heave blocks of stone on top of each other. He wasn't some pencil pusher as you had originally thought and that made it so much more fun since it was obvious that Strife could seriously hurt you if he could.

(He could but he wouldn't. Sure a steak to the face or a stick smacking wasn't pleasant but now...)

You had not expected his voice at all. He spoke in a clipped, almost formal manner that was very much all business all the time and his voice was deep and sonorous. It was pleasant to listen to though you much preferred the sound of your own voice. A shame, you suppose, yet there was nothing better than hearing that angered growl in his voice, the formal edge to his speaking dulling and making way for curses, and the sound of your name in that voice. You enjoyed hearing your own name thoroughly.

You thought about the first time you really took in Will's face and the first thing that came to mind was that dimly lit room where you had shown the blood altar to Will. He immediately placed down some torches, usual Will, and turned to frown at the altar. He had a fine enough face, it looked young and was probably objectively attractive in a sense. Squared off jaw, high cheekbones, a straight nose that hooked slightly. Yet there it was again, something else that added to simple simple Will. There were lines of stress over his brow and bags under his eyes. Well, this CEO must work hard indeed. You flashed him a grin as you showed off the sacrificial knife you had. Those green eyes widened and appeared to glow. You swiped at him with the knife, a grin on your face as he ran around the small space yelping and hollering. And there on your blade and in the altar was viscous, almost black fluid. It had stopped you in your tracks and you stared. The fluid smelled coppery like blood and upon further investigation you found it to not be black but a dark green speckled with a lighter, glowing green. You remember you had laughed and you didn't talk about the alien nature of the blood you took. Alien or not, it had worked.

(Plus, his obvious discomfort was palpable. He was high strung the entire day, probably waiting for you to either cut him again or to inquire about his blood. You had done the former a couple more times, for ritual and curiosity sake, but you never brought it up.)

He was a monolith of a man and you couldn't help but think about that tower he had built and you wondered idly if he had carved the building out of himself. Steadfast, calm Will that stood as tall as he could with a stern set to his brow. It brought you a certain amount of glee to see that monolith crumble bit by bit then rebuild itself. Shoulders sagged when he was tired, there was a bend to his knees when he had overworked himself, he often would fidget when he was done with work as if poor Will would shut down if he wasn't productive all the time.

You lived for those moments when he'd shut down. You rarely saw Will sleep. He would make sure to wait until you had gone to bed before climbing into bed at some godforsaken hour and he would get up before you. The closest you got to seeing him sleep was when you had woken up just minutes before he did but those minutes were something you would look back on fondly. He curled in on himself at the edge of the bed, far away from you. His clothes were still on, all buttoned up and put together yet slightly rumpled. You wondered when the guy ever took a break. But there was something else in the dim light of early morning. What you had assumed were normal freckles were glowing slightly, dimming and brightening along with his breathing. They crept over the back of his neck and were speckled high on his cheekbones and temples. You spied a few around his eyes and on his lips. You took a chance and pressed a finger to the back of his neck; and to your delight the freckles lit up brighter under the warmth of your fingertip. Will had woken up by then, the light sleeper that he is, and yelled about personal space. His eyes glowed a little brighter in his anger, his voice in a rough growl from sleep, and his top few buttons were undone.

You smiled sweetly for Will, all saccharine and mirth.

You don't know when it happened or exactly how but you had little Will wrapped around your finger. He couldn't say no to you, despite his many grumblings and complaints. He had given in to your demands and had even done things you hadn't even asked of him, such as the Steven incident. It didn't take long to figure out what it took to make him bend to your will for Will was so simple in his desires, it's so obvious. This monolith of a man who stood as tall as he could with fierce, glowing eyes stood alone, surrounding himself with machinery and science as a barricade. Lonely alien man who had carved the tower out of himself as a symbol of what he had built himself up to be.

And you had been shoved onto his life.

You would compliment him; tell him how brilliant he was, how amazing he was at crafting, at creating these marvels of technology, and then you smiled. Slow and sweet. You never smiled like that to anyone else except for good old Will. He would look down, a green glow flaring up briefly, before grumbling to himself about how he would deal with the problem and provide a solution to it.

It was almost too easy.

Will was there, examining the altar with this look on his face that you couldn't quite read. You didn't really care though and you approached Will with that honey sweet smile of yours that was for Will and only Will because lovely Will seemed so starved for it. He had dressed down from his impressive exoskeleton armor and even rolled up his sleeves even though you hadn't told him anything. You slowed down a bit at the sight of those forearms, tense with freckles glowing faintly. They dimmed and brightened but overall remained dim. You were so tempted to turn off all the lights to get a good look at Will in all glory, skin mapped out with micro-systems of stars glowing bright. You wanted to see those stars brighten with the heat of you and these thoughts struck you like a hammer into your gut.

Will hadn't acknowledged you yet and started pacing around the edge of the tier five altar. You followed and grabbed the edge of his vest like a child clutching onto their mother's skirt. He turned around, those flecks of light surrounding his glowing eyes and you spied again the very faint green that was on the tense line of his mouth. He was frowning but you didn't care at that moment.

You smiled and pulled him closer, running your bony fingers over the fine fabric of his vest. He sputtered and glowed fiercely which was such a delight. One hand traced over the freckles on his temples then down to his lips. He frowned again but you know it was a front. He straightened his back and hardened his gaze but you stayed unflinching, smiling sweet. Carefully, you wrapped your fingers over his throat, thumbs brushing over his jawline, lifting it up so he could meet your eyes properly. His eyes glowed fluorescent and the freckles under your fingertips glowed brighter than everything else.

"Parvis..." He muttered in a low grumble, voice wavering and rumbling. It sounded like the beginnings of a scolding and you did not care much to hear something like that. Honestly, you've had enough of it.

You tilted his head up further and claimed those glowing lips for yourself. Claimed those words that were bound to come from them, scolding words from a man not much older than yourself for all you know. Claimed this lonely alien man and all his seclusion and logistics.

To your surprise, he shakily kissed back. Something warm burst in your chest and your fingers tightened over his throat. He gasped and your fingers tightened further, deepening the kiss as if you were trying to devour him.

And in a sense you felt that he was trying to devour you as well.

Credit to 3ffloresce on Ao3